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August 27, 2014
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Talent is showcased at ArtWalk
Inside
KEVIN PARNELL
Hang time Erik Schroeder won the Canadian Wakeboard Championship junior menâs title earlier this month and will continue his training in Florida this winter. ...............................
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High tech Premier Chrisy Clark says the Okanagan Valley is becoming known as a mecca for hightech entrepreneurial ventures. ...............................
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Flyers â Home Depot â Jysk â Rona â Save On Foods â Shoppers Drug Mart â Smartsource â Staples
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Lake Countryâs ArtWalk is the single biggest art show in the Okanagan Valley and one of the biggest in the province with hundreds of Okanagan artists displaying thousands of original pieces of work over its two days. A multi-media experience, ArtWalk had its humble beginnings in a Lake Country holiday resort some 21 years ago and has grown into an essential art show that motivates local artists to create original works and take them to the masses. When Michael Kiss moved to the Okanagan after growing up in small town Saskatchewan, he wasnât sure what his future would hold. But as an young emerging artist enrolled in UBC Okanaganâs visual arts program, Kiss knew he wanted to make a career using his creativity. What kind of artist he would become, and what kind of community he would find in the Okanagan Valley, was another question. âGrowing up in Saskatchewan in a small community it wasnât the most open to the arts,â says Kiss, a week before he will debut several works at the Lake Country ArtWalk, Sept. 6 and 7. âOut here itâs fan-
tastic. There are tons of people to talk to and Iâve been in contact with lots of other artists. People are fairly open about being in the arts community. Itâs a great place.â Kiss is a visual artist, working with stone, metal and bronze to create works based on natural elements that, when combined with the sharp lines of geometry, create an abstract piece. Heading into his fourth year at UBC Okanagan, Kiss is bringing mythology into his latest works, such as the unfinished stone carving called Yggdrasilâthe tree of lifeâwhich ac-
KEVIN PARNELL/CAPITAL NEWS
MICHAEL Kiss works on one of his projects, a stone carving, outside UBC Okanaganâs fine arts building. cording to Norse myth-
CONTRIBUTED
ORGANIZER Sharon McCoubrey says ArtWalkâs
policy of not showing the same piece of art in subsequent years makes artists go back to the drawing board for each annual show.
ology is where the godâs live. âItâs a contrast of imagery,â explains Kiss. âI like to combine images and play with nature. Natural imagery, organics but also using geometry, the hard lines of urban design. âWhat Iâm trying to do with this sculpture is abstract it slightly so it can speak to more people.â At 21, Kissâ artistic endeavours are just beginning; his career is in front of him; his creations evolving all the time. This year he will take another step towards art as a career. He will display as many as 20 of his original artworks at the Lake Country ArtWalk, the biggest art show he has been accepted to and
the number one art show in the Okanagan. Last year he was like thousands of other art lovers as he took in ArtWalk as a patron. This year he will be alongside some 300 other artists, laying his work out for the public to consume and possibly purchase. âIâm excited,â he says. âIâve put a lot of time and effort into these pieces. Iâm excited to get feedback from the public. âWhen you are in university, you know the people who are viewing your work, other students and professors. But you donât know the public, you donât know what they will say. You get a greater view of what people think of your work and thatâs exciting.â
â˘â˘â˘ For the past 21 years Lake Country ArtWalk has been the single biggest gathering of artists in the Okanagan. Itâs a multi-arts festival that features work in mediums like theatre, dance, literary and media arts. It displays only original art produced by artists living in the Okanagan Valley. Itâs a festival that not only gives the public a great chance to take in one-of-a-kind art works but also motivates the artists by bringing the creative community together in one spot. To stimulate the artists, organizers have a policy that artists can-
SEE ARTWALK A3
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